Tuesday, April 28, 2015

A divided Jefferson County Board of Education voted Monday night to
approve Superintendent Donna Hargens' central office shakeup that
includes outsourcing legal services, despite a heated debate and
numerous questions that were left unanswered.

The board voted 4-2 to allow Hargens to eliminate the office of general counsel,
which includes four positions and has a budget of $600,000 annually.
Board members Chris Brady and Linda Duncan voted against the measure,
while Diane Porter, David Jones Jr., Lisa Willner and Stephanie Horne
supported it. Board member Chuck Haddaway was absent.

The district will now put out a request for bids from law firms and
hopes to have one in place by July 1, Hargens said. She noted current
general counsel Rosemary Miller will retire and help with the
transition. Miller makes $175,200 annually and has been with JCPS since
1984.

Hargens told board members the move will “build
capacity in the district” to best serve the district's students,
teachers and employees. She told board members it will be their
discretion “on an annual basis” to review the outsourcing of legal
services.

Each of the board members – with the
exception of Jones – asked Hargens a multitude of questions about the
proposal, in terms of how much it would cost and how it would be
managed.

Hargens never answered how much it would
cost, only to say she was familiar with the approach because of her
previous experience in Wake County Schools in North Carolina, her
previous district.WDRB 41 Louisville News
“It's very frustrating to receive
this proposal without understanding what the problem is that we are
trying to fix,” said Duncan.

Duncan also noted that
the peer districts referred to State Auditor Adam Edelen's report have
an in-house legal services department. Those districts include Baltimore
County Public Schools (Maryland), Pinellas County Schools (Florida),
Austin Independent Schools (Texas), Cobb County (Georgia) and
Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina).

Brady said the timing of the proposal has been "poorly managed" and noted that it's a growing concern of his.

“No clear plan has been submitted,” Brady said. “I'm concerned about
the increased cost and delayed access that could have a chilling
effect.”"If I have to call and talk with an attorney's secretary, then
get passed to a paralegal and then eventually the attorney
themselves...the tax payer will get charged for the time of the
secretary the paralegal and attorney," Brady said.

Porter,
Willner and Horne also asked questions about cost and indicated that
they'd like more time to consider the proposal. However, moments later,
they approved the proposal.

Jones said he didn't
think more time was needed, saying the school board has asked Hargens to
figure out this “uncomfortable corporate reorganization stuff and that
is what she is trying to do.”

“We need to let the people do the jobs we've hired them to do and then hold them to account,” Jones said.

Brady said if the board's job is to “take her (Hargens) word for
everything, then that's a rubber stamp and that's not something I can
get behind.”

Jones said he was “not recommending that
the board be a rubber stamp, I'm recommending that the board follow
through on its good decision to hire Dr. Hargens.”

Brent McKim, president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association,
told school board members his organization was in favor of the
proposal.”

“The current legal structure we have in
place tends to bottleneck,” McKim said, noting that some teachers wait
years on legal matters.

But Helen Haverstick, an
orchestra teacher in JCPS, said she had “grave concerns” over the
proposal, asking who would be able to call for legal advice and support
and also asked how much money this will cost the district.

Hargens said “171 of 174 school districts in Kentucky” outsource legal
services. However, Brady noted that Fayette County Public Schools in
Lexington, the second largest district in the state, outsourced its
general counsel in 2010, but has since returned to having an attorney on
staff.

Aside from Miller, assistant general counsel Stephanie
Malone, who makes $148,000 annually, will lose her job. Two other legal
department positions that total about $95,000 will also be eliminated.

In
addition to agreeing to outsource legal services, the school board also
approved Hargens' request to create a new cabinet-level position called
Chief Business Officer to oversee Cordelia Hardin, the district's chief
financial officer, and the new human resources director.

The position is expected to pay between $150,000 and $170,000, and a national search will be conducted.

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So far as we know, we only get one lifetime. So, when I "retired" in 2004, after 31-years in public education I wanted to do something different. I wanted to teach, write and become a student again. I have since spent a decade in higher ed.

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On the campaign trail...with my wife Rita

An action shot: The Principal...as a much younger man.

Faculty Senate Chair

Serving as Mace Bearer during the Inauguration of Michael T. Benson as EKU's 12th president.

Teaching

EDF 203 in EKU's one-room schoolhouse.

Professin'

Lecturing on the history of Berea College to Berea faculty and staff, 2014.

Faculty Regent

One in a long series of meetings. 2016

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